Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Accurate 4064 in .223 Rem?

Just wondering if anyone has tried Accurate 4064 powder in the .223 Remington? It seems to be very similar to Varget in burning rate and kernel size. I loaded up some tonight to test tomorrow, just to see. In neck sized LC 04 cases I loaded 26.0 gr and 26.5 gr with the 50 gr Nosler SHOTS bullet. My manuals show 26.0 gr of IMR-4064 with bullets up to 55 gr in the .223, and the Accurate and IMR 4064's are very similar in burning rate. I have loaded 27.0 gr of Varget behind a 55 gr Nosler SHOTS bullet with decent accuracy and velocity. I just wondered about AA 4064. (It is a bit cheaper than Varget, if you can find it. If it works well, I may have to order an 8 lb keg or two from Powder Valley) I am also testing it in my 6.5x55, which shoots well with IMR-4064, and my .243 Win. If it works decently in the .223, it may be possible to load all three cartridges with that one powder. I'll post my results. Any guesses?

Recently, I've been burning up partial boxes of left over bullets in 2 different 223's using IMR 4064. I'm getting sub 1 inch groups with many loads, although I have no idea of what the velocity is. I'm doing a quick load work up with each bullet to find a usable load for the 40 -50 bullets of a given style and then burning the rest practicing my field positions. 25.0 seems to be the sweet spot with numerous bullets.

I'd guess that you'll get satisfactory accuracy but lower than ideal velocities with the 55 and lighter pills. I'd like to hear how you make out regardless.

Finally got around to testing some .223 Rem. loads with Accurate Arms 4064 powder. There is zero published data for this powder in the .223 Rem, but since they claim it to be near identical with IMR-4064 (which also puts it close to Varget and Reloder 15), I thought it might be suitable. Out of my 26" barrel Remington 700 SPS Varmint it shot pretty well. The velocities are a little low, but I think it shows some real potential. The loads were in neck sized LC-05 brass, 50 gr Nosler SHOTS bullets, WSR primer.
26.0 gr average 3,150 fps two 5 shot groups at 100 yards from a bench averaged .71". If you throw out the first shot from a cold clean barrel, the 4 and 5 shot groups were both under a half inch. The 26.5 gr load averaged .92" at 3,222 fps, but the second group had some definite horizontal stringing that could be attributable to the gusting winds when I was firing that group. With the neck sized cases, I believe I could get at least another .5 gr of powder in there. I will load up some with 27.0 gr and test them. If the increase in fps per 1/2 gr of powder is the same, I should be able to get up around 3300 fps with that load. That isn't too bad of velocity if the accuracy holds up or even improves. I'll see how it works out, but for now I will keep on loading Ramshot TAC until I use up the 10 lbs or so I have left. Then will have a decision to make.

Thanks for the update on this topic. When it comes time to load a bunch of ammo, like for a prairie dog shoot, I'd probably stick with a more "traditional" powder for 223, but for my current shooting spree, the IMR version continues to fit the bill. I'd like to use up the older powders I have on hand before settling on fewer to cover the same calibers, but save on the inventory.

You're ahead of me in that you've chrono'd them and know what your achieving and how to adapt it to your shooting situations. Like your loads, the accuracy was there for me as well, so I know in my practicing that those that fly way out are me, not the load. I'd need to check the loading books to see where they draw the line with IMR4064, but I'd guess you could overload it still in the 223, I'm sure enough could fit in there to show some pressure signs.

Myself I have not found anything that comes close to the accuracy I get with 27.7 grains of W748 under a 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip

Well, one reason for my use of 4064 is that I have quite a lot of it on hand, and want to use it up. I'm not looking to squeeze the last decimal point of accuracy out of these loads. As my 1st post indicates, I'm simply burning up partial boxes of stuff and not taking the time to due a serious load work up with them. I do have specific loads with more "traditional" powders such as H335, Varget, H322, etc. that I use with bullets that I have a bigger supply of.

For my practice use, its easy on the barrel, using up old stock, helping me shoot better; works for me.

I've got some- was thinking about trying it under 75 amaxes...